Pumpkin Sunrise

  Grab a cup of tea, this will take a while. How are you? How's your week been? I have been thoroughly enjoying this Advent season! I cannot believe we are near the end. Time does fly. We left on Sunday to help out with babysitting on Monday and Tuesday and arrived back home on Wednesday this past week. We had excellent driving weather both to and from Indiana. Sadly all my photos cannot be shared with the internet of the kids. I don't feel right doing so. So just imagine me and my husband being on the go from 8 am until 8 pm unless it was nap time. Our grandson is almost three years old and our granddaughter is 16 months old and both are fun. I have wiped my distant memory of taking care of little ones and wonder how I had the energy. I am now battling an arthritis flare (it is a small one so not a big deal) and I know it's from traveling and doing too much. I still knit a lot on the car rides and I started a new project but you'll have to wait for me to create a proje...

  How are you? How are you doing as we lead up to the holidays? I am getting things done bit by bit aided my a very detailed to do list. I finished my granddaughter's hat a week or so ago and forgot to show you! This project was a fun quick easy knit. Below is a photo of my husband's hat that I would love to finish before Christmas. For incentives for me to finish on time, I started placing a marker before I start knitting for the day so I could see my progress. It appears I knit one inch or so a day. As of today I am confident I will meet my goal. Lastly, I restarted a pair of mitts for myself with some lovely wool my daughter gave me for Mother's day. The original pattern I chose was too hard for me to see the stitches to do the cabling and there were mistakes in the pattern that I knew needed to be corrected before knitting. I can do both but I just didn't have the mental bandwidth to do it. The older I get, the harder it is to see dark wool in the evenings even w...

  Good morning! Boy have I missed you guys. I had a fantastic visit with family and spent some quality time with the grandkids. They left yesterday morning and I put my house back together again once more. They will be visiting again shortly after Christmas for an extended period of time. I am so lucky! My knitting was non-existent while they were here. I continue to work on the second Musselburgh hat for my husband who sees me knitting it but doesn't know it's for him, ha ha ha. I've been feeling under the weather but I am convinced it's my auto-immune disease, so I've been taking it easy, hydrating and keeping my fingers crossed. So far this plan is working! What are you working on this week?

  Let's call this year, the year of the hat. I am in hat knitting mode and loving it. I whipped this little hat up for my grandson in a week. I altered the amount of brim and changed 1 x 1 ribbing to 2 x 2 ribbing. I'm hoping that this hat will last since the brim can easily fold up. I have already started one for my granddaughter. What are you working on this week? Happy Thanksgiving for all who are celebrating. I will be back to this space next Wednesday - we have family visiting us once again!!

  I celebrated my birthday this week! What a great time to be alive, I am so grateful. I received many calls from my family. While yesterday was not my birthday, it snowed! I felt like that was a gift from Mother Nature since I love winter so much. We went to see the holiday lights at the conservatory and they were lovely. I had a difficult time being thoroughly immersed in the displays because right before we walked into the foyer we were pummeled by high winds and drenching rains. My husband and I were soaked through and were so cold down to our bones. Glass houses are not heated, lol. All I thought about was getting home and changing my clothes and drinking hot tea. Yesterday was a delicious day at home. I got caught up on the computer with 'stuff' and did my readings for the week for two classes. Below is a photo of a hat for the my grandson. I am not sure I have enough yarn so I am winging it. My years of experience say there is enough yarn but the pattern I chose says the...

  Good morning! I am so excited that we might get some snowflakes tomorrow, but first I have to weather the rain today. My fingers are crossed! I finished my hat and I love it. I made the extra large size. For my second hat, and there will be a second one, I will go up a needles size and down a hat size but add more length. I'll let you know when I cast on.  What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How was your weekend? My weekend was wonderful! On Saturday, my sister and I went out shopping to craft stores and spent some quality time together. In the afternoon, my husband and I went out as well to do a bit of shopping for 'boring' stuff. He needed some new rain boots for when he works outside. But it was quality time together! I was woefully behind on laundry and got all caught up this weekend. That is a satisfying feeling and it's so nice to have shirts I want to wear as opposed to having to wear. It's a mindset. After months of not painting, I pulled out my supplies and dabbled a bit. I also worked on my throw that is evolving on its own. I've added more colors since the photo. Now I'm trying to use up all of my scraps if that is possible. I do like the challenge. Sunday morning we attended Mass, afterwards I rested by knitting and reading. It was a great day! What did you do this weekend?

  Good morning! How are you?  My oh my, did I have a busy long weekend but more about that later on in the week. My knitting halted when my kids and grandkids were visiting. As soon as everyone left on Monday morning, I was digging in my knitting bag returning once again to my newly cast-on  throw that I decided to do with three skeins of yarn from stash. I have since changed my mind and am using scraps as much as possible for the throw with the light pink skein as a base. I'll let you know what I think as I go along. The uncertainty of wool amounts have me questioning this decision but I'm up for the mystery and the challenge I guess. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning to you! How are you? I'm excited about my hat that I've been knitting enjoying the sea of stockinette stitches. When I first started the hat I thought it would be too small, now I wonder if it will be too big. Gah. I will find out soon I guess. I wish the photo about showed how beautiful the colors are in real life, you'll have to trust me on this! Below is my next knitting project, the habitation throw . I will definitely use the pink and gray, I'm still not sure about that purple, I might have a look-see in my stash and do another ponder about that color. I chose this pattern because I can use up some of my stash and I adore Helen Stewart's patterns. What are you working on this week? Also: I will probably not be posting this Friday and the following Monday because of my family visiting. I hope to be back next Wednesday (unless I change my mind).

  Hello! How was your weekend? My weekend was filled with cleaning the house which set off some allergies but I am recovering. I guess when you rarely dust, then dust, you're going to go through some things. Will this make me dust more? I doubt it. Are you wondering why I'm cleaning? We have the kids (both of them) coming this coming weekend and I have tasks to do every single day leading up to Friday in the hopes that I am not doing everything the last minute.  On Saturday and Sunday, we had beautiful weather and I walked the neighborhood enjoying the blue skies and endless sunshine. I read some, I knit some and I tried to make the weekend feel like a weekend. We even ordered pizza! On Sunday after Mass, I wrote out a detailed TO DO list so I do not get overwhelmed.  I spent a ton of time on Ravelry, trying to decide on my next knitting projects and failed. I have some ideas but nothing definite. I find patterns I like but do not have the yarn, I have yarn that I like bu...

  Good morning! How are you? I forgot to take a photo yesterday of the little sweater I made for my granddaughter. You know I love fall and winter the most but there is an advantage to having more daylight is spring and summer for photoing my knitting projects. This sweater zipped on and off my needles! I did a lot of car knitting which led me to finish knitting the bulk of the yoke and body of the sweater. Once I got to the sleeves it was all downhill. I do love top/down construction just for that aspect. I knit this pattern last year for her holiday sweater so I decided to make it once more in a bigger size. I'm pleased with how it turned out. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How are you? I am back at my ordinary life and playing the big catch up after taking some time off to be with family. We had a great time and loved seeing our grandchildren and spending time with them. Before we saw the grandchildren this weekend, I finished my grandson's holiday sweater and I had to wait for it to dry before I could take its 'finished' photo after I returned home. I love how knitting projects on size eight needles go fast! This flax pattern is a wonderful sweater that comes in many sizes. I also love knitting for little ones, the projects just fly off the needles. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How are you doing? My knitting progress has been fantastic. I'll admit the cool weather helps motivate me immensely. First off, I finished those socks and am now done with sock holiday knitting. I like the way they turned out and will probably not knit socks until mid December for my husband, but never say never. Below is the progress of my grandson's holiday sweater . I am thoroughly enjoying this project, the yarn is divine and the pattern is easy-peasy. I hope to finish the first sleeve today. What are you working on this week?

  Hello, how are you? I'm doing pretty good, trying my best to keep busy and fill my days with the last bits of warm weather activities while anticipating the cold weather activities. Although later this week the temperature will be back into the low 70s, the next few days will be chilly. I love when fall breezes in and ebbs back out. Each time we are closer and closer to colder weather. My husband and I walked the local park over the weekend, I wanted to see the trees changing before they are past peak. As you can see, we are still early for peak colors. We were lucky because they closed the road down for some tree maintenance and that eliminated car traffic (yay!). We had a beautiful walk. Holly continues to be brave and bold since Frodo left us in August. She still checks his spot on the loveseat but doesn't look terrified when she does. Her progress has been steady. I love when she drinks from his water bowl which we have kept out for her. Gah!!  Over the weekend, I was kn...

  And just like that, October shows up and gives us a breath of fresh air and a chance to wear woolens. How are you? How has your week been? I have been basking in this beautiful fall weather. Might I add chilly as well. My morning walks are quite brisk but a wonderful kind of brisk. Probably next week we will be peak fall colors. Maybe! I love being cold so I am happy and content. This week I finished a lot of my first session non-classes, phew! I signed up for a lot and I enjoyed the classes but I did not like how busy I was and how I forgot about  weekly grocery shopping. Silly! The next two weeks will be a much more manageable schedule for me and then I will start the second session of fall classes. My schedule will be easier, I won't have to gobble up a lunch in between two classes and I will have opportunities to grocery shop in the mornings once more.  Besides loving this weather, I've been working on my grandson's holiday sweater which is coming along nicely. Sti...

  Good morning! How are you doing today? My knitting news is quite thin, but I am knitting every day and I'm so very close to finishing these  socks which are a holiday gift. I'm confident I will finish them tonite. I've been enjoying knitting socks lately and this pair is turning out so nicely. I love the simple seed stitch bands in between the stockinette rows. (four rows seed stitch, six rows stockinette). I love anything repetitive and easy to break up the monotony of endless stockinette stitching. Also it makes it super easy to match the socks exactly without measuring. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? My past week was filled with classes and appointments. I am ready for a super boring weekend! In the above photo are the mums (chrysanthemums) I bought in memory of dear Frodo (who I miss so much!) and they are now blooming. So far the deer are leaving them alone. Sometimes you never know what the deer will eat up.  I love seeing my flowers and remembering our sweet boy! Holly the cat is getting ever so bold and brave now that her nemesis is gone. She still checks the loveseat where he slept which I find quite funny. She is very concerned that he might be there. She now lays in sunbeams in the kitchen and comes visit me briefly while I am knitting. Maybe one day she will snuggle. I had a cardiology appointment last week to discuss shortness of breath while exercising and he decided to discontinue one of my blood pressure meds (yay) thinking that is what was causing my symptoms. As a precaution he ordered an exercise stress test which I did yesterda...

  Good morning! How are you doing?  As you know, I have scaled back on my holiday knitting and have implemented a slower pace of knitting gifts to protect my hands and wrists. Last year I had an arthritis flare up knitting gnomes which caused a self-imposed knitting ban until I recovered. Knitting is such a lovely way to handle stress and to relax for me. So I've been mindful of what I knit, how I knit and to rest more often all with the goal of always knitting and to not be in a self-imposed knitting ban.  I'm pleased with my progress! I found these little stars on Ravelry and decided they would be a wonderful little gifts for my family. They use up little bits of scrap yarn and you could go wild with the color combinations. I enjoyed knitting them and the pattern was easy to memorize after one little star. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you all doing on this fine Monday? Finally after weeks of no rain, we are in a rainy season. Yesterday we took a long walk in the drizzle while taking in the signs of fall. We were a little wet but it was worth the fresh air. We visited his mother earlier this week and yet again, I have no photos to share. However, once I was home I was back at the documenting my life. Whenever we are visiting people we eat out a lot and so when I get home I need to get back to healthy eating and living. There is nothing like a fresh salad except a fresh salad made by someone else. Also when we got back home I started to feed the birds with the 'winter' feeder. Word was spread within the hour and I had my birds back. I love them so. Also my hydrangea bush is heading into the fall season beautifully. Saturday morning I ran a bunch of errands and did some returning at a few stores. Once I was home, I wrote down a quote I stumbled across, then did some knitting. I'm wor...

  I finished a sweater !! Honestly I'm thrilled with the way this turned out especially since I'm not knitting nearly as much as I usually do. How nice to have a finished item to wear when the weather gets chilly! Now I will be watching the forecast wishing and hoping for that autumnal breeze. What have you been working on this week?